Thursday, April 28, 2011

Hard to believe that its been a month since Marco had his huge surgery. He has come a long way. He is able to do a bit more than before. This week he was told not to over due himself so they could take the last drain out on his side. Its been hard for him to find a comfortable spot to sleep, he wakes up feeling stiff from sleeping in one position all night. Some nights its just tossing and turning till there is no pain in one spot.

Once this drain is out he will be able to do more. He will be able to walk better and not concentrate on the drain hanging on the side and hope nothing or no one gets hooked on it so it doesn't get pulled out on accident. Marco still has lots of pain but its tolerable till his next medication time. He has also had some fatigue if he over dose himself. But over all he is okay.

Marco still has a couple more months before he can really start to do things in the mean while he is starting to make plans on what he wants to do, and that is a good thing. The Battle Scar that was left from this last fight is looking better. All the glue they used to close him up is almost all fallen off. Its amazing to see how this glue holds the skin closed and heals the area really good. Who ever invented it is a genius.

I wanted to take this time again to thank Dr.Chow for all the chemo cocktails that helped in the shrinkage of the tumors, Dr. Trisal for his awesome hands, and both of them for believing and fighting for Marco to be able to get this surgery done. Dr.Tan and Dr. Grannis for helping out in the surgery. All the Sarcoma Team that helped we are greatly thankful for your part in the surgery.

We like to thank all the Rally Monkey's for your blood donations. Saving a life is an awesome thing to do and we thank you for all you do. Family Support is what pulls and holds us up everyday. THANK YOU!!!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

We can never turn our backs on cancer. We always need to be vigilant of what is going on,all the time. If Marco starts to mention that something is bothering him, be it is a little pain here or there. You bet I am on ALERT. I turn into a spy, investigation and touching the area in case I can feel any bumps or lumps.

Marco had surgery in March 2010, two months later Marco was not recovering as fast as he should of been. He was still having pain and it wasn't getting any better. The bump I found on his back one day as I was massaging his back was about a dime size. I asked if it hurt he said no. I was a little worried, so we mentioned it to Dr. Grannis who then had a CT Scan done which confirmed that the cancer was back in the same area. Dr. Grannis was disappointed.

Going and coming out of surgery we know there is no guarantee that all the cancer is gone. All the X rays, CT Scans and blood work aren't able to pick up microscopic size tumors. That is what happened here. The pathology report came back negative for any cancer in the margins, but it came back with a vengeance. Dr. Chow started chemo treatment right away followed by radiation to try to shrink the tumors for surgery. The tumor that was closes to the spine and aorta had shrunk but the one under his shoulder blade started to grow bigger.

We decided to post these picture so you can see that cancer is a vicious disease and the scars it leaves behind. Most cancer patients look good on the outside as Marco does and even though they tell there story and how horrible it is no one really knows the extent of it all. Cancer is just not about chemo and radiation, it's not like a cold and its going to go away.

When someone says they are fighting cancer you bet your ass they are. They are giving it all they can to survive everyday to keep this thing away. When I say Marco is a warrior...I mean he is a WARRIOR, he as well as so many go through so much and the battle scars shows they are standing up to cancer so it doesn't show its ugly head.

The last two pictures are from his most recent surgery done on March 28, 2011.

This is the tumor that was bulging out of Marco's back. It was coming out from under his shoulder blade.

Dr. Tan measured and took a picture to have for surgical removal of tumor. He also wrote the measurements on Marco's back. The scar you see in the picture was the from surgery he had just had in March 2010.

Chest Tube was put in along with some drainage tubes on the side. Marco was really glad and able to do more after the chest tube was removed.

This is what Marco has now, the two drains on the side. A large battle scar.

Well, Marco went to go see Dr. Thomas the pain management guy and Dr. Trisal on Thursday. So I waited to see how the medication change would go before posting.

So far so good the new med. schedule seems to be tolerable for him. He is starting to sleep a bit more than before and you can see it in his face that the pain seems to be under control. Dr. Thomas said it was to be expected to have pain it was a huge surgery and a lot was removed.

Dr. Trisal was very happy and satisfied with the pathology report. He said it was all good news there was NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE in the all that was taken out. The tumors, 4 ribs, chest wall, part of the diaphragm,half of his shoulder blade and piece of lung his margins were clear of any disease. During the surgery the incision they cut a bit more around the diseased area till there is no evidence of cancer all the way around.

Dr. Trisal was very surprised to see Marco doing so well. Though he told him to take it easy it was a huge surgery but one day at a time for recovery.

He still has two drains on his side which may be pulled out next week. Dr. Tan is also getting him a compression vest to try to squeeze more of the fluid out of the cavity where the shoulder blade was removed so will see how that goes.

Marco has gotten on the treadmill to get his walking in and is doing very well with that. He just amazes me.

Marco will be checked every three months for two years. Every 6 months after that. Crossing every part of our bodies that can be crossed, that this shit doesn't poke its ugly head again.

Our New Blog

What is Soft-Tissue Sarcoma?

Soft tissue sarcomas are cancerous tumors that originate in the soft tissues of the body.

These tissues include muscle, fat, blood vessels, nerves, tendons and the lining of the joints. Marco's sarcoma started off as a tumor in his calf muscle in December 2007. The tumor was surgically removed, then treated with radiation.

The cancer later spread to his lung area, the tumors were also surgically removed, his body treated with chemo. He had three more tumors in his lungs, which they tried to shrink down with chemo.

Doctors had ruled out any more surgeries after chemo but they finally agreed.

On March 15, 2010 they removed the three tumors from his lungs, a section of the lung and diaphragm and three sections of ribs. Marco was in intensive care for over a week fighting an infection.

A CT scan showed worrisome signs that the cancer was back and it was confirmed with a PET scan.

Marco went through the maximum number of chemos to try to shrink that tumor. The tumor was not being responsive to the chemo in the shoulder area and there was a new tumor discovered near the aorta that was showing some response.

On Jan 15, 2011 Marco started 6 weeks of radiation aimed at his chest area, 5 days a week 30 min a day before surgery options were put on the table again.

After much debate, surgery was completed March 28, 2011. Marco underwent a painful recovery at home, only to discover over the Labor Day weekend that the sarcoma has spread to his brain.

Marco had brain surgery September 2011 to have the brain tumor removed. He also completed radiation to the operated area. On October 2011, Marco exhausted all of his treatment options at City of Hope. Marco entered home hospice care.

On March 3, 2012, Marco passed away at home surrounded by his family. You can read the posts and archive to read his story.